The Lore and Language of School-Children

In 1959, Iona and Peter Opie published the first of their major studies of the games and customs of children. The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren, the first book to uncover and thoroughly explore "the curious lore passing between children between 6-14," was based on contributions by 5,000 children from different parts of England, Scotland, and Wales. A delightful collection of the riddles, epithets, jokes, quips, jeers, pranks, codes, superstitions, beliefs, and rites of schoolchildren, it also includes fascinating historical annotation and comparative material, by which the Opies illuminate the extraordinary continuity of children's beliefs and customs.